Construction Starts On Museum’s New Basement And Building

An overnight concrete pour marks the official start of construction on the new base-isolated basement and building at the Canterbury Museum redevelopment site on Rolleston Avenue in central Christchurch.

Last night, Leighs Construction contractors poured the first slab for the outer basement floor, about 13% of the total area. Several more large concrete pours will take place over the next 2 years to create both the outer and the inner basement floors.

The outer basement slab includes pipes that will drain away any water that might seep into the one-metre gap between the two basement floors. It also includes the base plates for the base isolators.

The Museum’s base-isolated storage basement will cover about 4,600 square metres, from the Rolleston Avenue façade that is currently temporarily propped, to under the Robert McDougall Gallery and the new Duff Wing, bordering the Christchurch Botanic Gardens.

Work on the new basement and building structure, to be built inside the outer basement now under construction, will start early next year and progressively expand across the site, with completion scheduled for early 2028.

The next stage will be the fit-out of all the buildings, including the strengthened Mountfort buildings and the Gallery, followed by the installation of the new Museum exhibitions and displays in early 2028.

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Museum Tumuaki | Director Anthony Wright, says he’s really pleased to be seeing the plans for the new basement and building become a reality. “But that’s nowhere near as exciting as the exhibitions and displays that Museum staff are developing to fill the new structure.

“Nearly half of the exhibition spaces are now progressing through various stages of design and three are ready to move into production. It’s a joy to see the new Museum visitor experience take shape, and we’re looking forward to sharing that with visitors when we reopen in mid-2029.”

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